Clamp for freight-carriers



H. W. KIRCHNER.

CLAMP FOR FREIGHT CARRIERS.

APPHCATION FILED SEPT. 29, I919- Patented Nov. 15, 1921.

M m 1 Z 2 f r w a m ill] elll

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY W. KIRCHNER, 033 ST. LOUIS), MISSOURI.

CLAMP FOR FREIGHT-CARRIERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 15,1921.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W, KIRGHNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in C amps for Freight-Carriers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, referones being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.-

y invention relates generally to the art of transportation and handling freight and more particularly to means for securing the interchangeable unit containers to the bed or body of the carrier and which latter may be in the form of a railway car, motor truck, barge or the like.

United States Letters Patent Nos. 885,162, dated April 21, 1908, 922,293, dated May 18, 1909, 997,300, dated July 11, 1911, 1,026,752, dated May 21, 1912, and 1,252,810, dated J anuary 8, 1918, have been granted to me on various forms of interchangeable unit cars and carriers wherein the material transported is carried in specially formed con tainers or units which are adapted to be individually movable and interchangeable on the underirame of the carrier and upon ditferent similar carriers. Such construction obviates the general practice of storing" freight in built or placing the smile in a single mass for transportation on carriers and permits the load or cargo to be divided and stored in convenient quantities in receptacles Which are susceptible of being easily and quickly handled. In practically all of the above mentioned patent the trams or body of the carrier must be specially 0011- structed in order to receive the interchange able unit containers and it is the principal object of my present invention to provide a simple and eflicient form of clamping or fas toning means that is applied to a carrier by the unit containers and Which means is effective in lirmly securi the con aii'iers to a carrier such as an ordinary tlat car or to the flat bed oil a truclr or the lilre.

A further object oil my invention is to provide a clamp or securing member that can be easily and quickly applied for use or detached to permit the removal of the unit. carrier, and her, to provide simple and ellicient in cane ror preventing movement in either direction of the unit container longitudlnally of the carrier body upon which it is posit oned.

VVith the foregoing and otherohjects in view, my lnvention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, hereinafter more fully described and clalmed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in Which--- Figure 1 is an elevational view of the lower portion of a unit container With my improved securing means applied thereto and sand securing means in engagement with the carrier; V

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of one of the clamping members contemplated by my invention.

Flg. 3 is a sectional view taken approxi mately on the line 3-3 ol l? 2. Flg. d is a detail view of a gravity latchmg member utilized on the ends of the unit containers for retaining the same against longitudinal movement upon the carrier.

Referring by num "ra ls the accompanying drawings, 10 dos; -nsrtes the upper por tion of the bed or loot oil the carrier which may be a flat car. a rotor truck, or barge and Which bed or neworlt is adapted to receive the interchan tahle unit containers ll, and which latter be of any desired size and construction.-

hornied on or l to tile lower portions oil the sides ontainer are socket members 153, in eacl ich is arranged for vertical a votal e it a block 13, the same hen g; h a longitudinally disposed llh'i ilt .Jture i l. Screwseated in this a" is a threaded shank 15 that as an aperture 16 in a loclti or 1? in outer end of said threadec, shanli: is provided With an operating handle lgl.

ivotally eon the lower end of lever ll upon a p ,1 t, bolt 19 that passes horizontally through said lever is a clamp ing plate 20* that adapted to directly engage the side face of the .bed or body 10, and ii desired the of this plate may be corrugated or roup; encd as illustrated in Fiat 3.

'lhe upper portion oi leverl'? is formed into a handle "'d when the clamp is properly applier or use, the upper end portion ol' 1 rule occupies the outer the carrier.

portion of a saddle block 22 and which latter'is pivotally secured to a bracket 23 that is fixed in any suitable manner to the side wall of the container a short distance above the socket block 12.

It will be understood that one or more of the clamping members contemplated by my invention'are arranged on each side face ofa container and that when said clamping devlces are applied for use, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, they will effectually retain the unit container in proper position upon the carrier.

By manipulating the threaded shanks 15 so that the same are screwed tightly into the blocks 13, the ripping plates 20 on the lower ends of the levers 17 very firmly engage the outer side faces of the carrier body or bed 10 while the upper ends of the levers bear inwardly upon the saddles 22 and the latter bear inwardly against the-sides of the unit containers with the result that the latter are firmlyanchored in position upon When the unit container is to be removed from the carrier, the shanks 15 are unscrewed a 'suflicient distance to permit the upper ends of the levers 17 to be unseated or removed from the saddles 22 after which the levers are swung into substantially horizontal positions as illustrated by dotted lines in Fig. 2, and thus the container is released and free to be lifted from the carrier.

However, the shank 15 is threaded so that when the container is clamped in place, the handle 18 will incline slightly to the left as shown dotted in Fig. .2. Thus inclining the handle permits the same to act as a gravity lock, 2'. 6., should the screw shank 15 work loose from the vibrations of the carrier body in transit, this looseness will be taken up by the dropping of the handle under its own weight.

Containers that are designed pr rticularly .for use upon flat cars and which latter are stopped and started suddenly while being switched about in railway yards, are liable to shift lengthwise upon the car bodies, and to effectually prevent such action, I arrange upon the lower portions of the end walls of said units, hinged metal plates 24, the lower edges of which are toothed or serrated as designated by 25 and these plates by gravity swing downward into inclined positions, as illustrated in Fig. 4.- with their toothed lower edges in engagement with the surface of the bed or frame of the car, and thus said units are prevented from moving lengthwise ef the car body in either direction.

A unit clamping and retaining device of my improved construction is comparatively slmple, can be easily and cheaply n1anufactured, is capable of being easily and quickly applied for use or released to permit the removal of the unit, and the units provided with the clamps can be applied to different containers, the widths of which may vary a matter of several inches.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved device can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of a carrier having a supporting floor which has perpendicular side edges extending downwardly therefrom, a container on said floor, and a clamping member mounted on the side of said container and extending over the edge of said floor, said clamping member having means on its lower end for engaging the perpendicular side edges of the floor at any point.

2. The combination of a carrier having a supporting floor which has perpendicular side edges extending downwardly therefrom, a container on said floor, and a clamping member mounted on the side of said container and extending over the edge of said floor, said clamping member having means on its lower end for engaging the perpendicular side edges of the floor at any point,

said clamping member also having means on its upperend for engaging the vertical side wall of said container, said clamping member also havin means intermediate its ends and cooperating with-said container for placing the clamping member under stress.

3. The combination of a carrier having a supporting floor which has perpendicular side edges extending downwardly therefrom, a container on said floor, clamping members on each side of said container, each having means at its lower end for engaging the side edge of the floor, means at its upper end for engaging the container, and means intermediate its ends for placing opposing stresses in oppositely arranged clamping members.

4:. A container having a socket and a rocking saddle block, a swiveling nut in said socket, a clamping member having threaded engagement with said nut, the upper end of said clamping member being designed to engage said saddle block, and a clamping plate pivotally mounted on the lower end of said clamping member.

5. The combination of a carrier having a supporting floor which has perpendicular side edges extending downwardly therefrom, a container on said iioor, means on the lower edges of said container for preventing shifting thereof in a direction longitudinally of door, and means on said container for preventing shifting thereof in a direction transversely of said floor, said last means comprising clamping members on two opposite sides of said container, each having means at its lower end for engaging the side edge of the floor, means at its upper end for engaging the container, and means intermediateits ends for placing opposing stresses in oppositely arranged clamping members.

' 6. The combination of a carrier having a supporting floor which has perpendicular side edges extending downwardly therefrom, a container on said floor, hinged biting plates on the lower edges of said container for preventing shifting thereof in a direction longitudinally of said floor, and means by the lowerend of said lever.

on said container for preventing shifting 15 thereof in a direction transversely of said floor.

7. The combination with a unit container, of a member pivotally connected to said container, a shank screw-seated in said member, a lever carried by said shank, a member pivotally mounted on the container and adapted to receive the upper end of said lever, and a gripping plate pivotally carried In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature this 23d day of September 1919.

HENRY XV. KIRCHNER. 

